What Maro Itoje has to say about people questioning his starting spot

Elliot Daly is to undergo an X-ray for a possible broken forearm after being forced off in the second half of the British and Irish Lions’ 52-12 victory over Queensland Reds.

Head coach Andy Farrell denied the Lions are facing problems at full-back despite the doubt that now hovers over Daly’s ongoing participation in the tour.

Daly made a remarkable 11th successive appearance in a Lions matchday 23 after being drafted in as a late replacement for Huge Keenan, who was ruled out by illness shortly before kick-off.

The England star and veteran of three Lions tours was on song again for Farrell’s men, only to be left clutching his left arm in agony after making a tackle on Jock Campbell and, after playing on, he left the field in the 67th minute.

“Elliot’s got a bang on the forearm and he’s going for an X-ray this evening (Wednesday). We’ve all got our fingers crossed for him,” Farrell said.

“He’s been back to his good old self. We’ve seen him do that on these tours before and he’s certainly the type of character that loves touring. He’s a people person.

“I phoned him up today. He’d just come out of the gym, had done a tough old session, and I said to him, ‘How was the gym session?’ He says, ‘Good, yeah, we trained hard’.

“I said, ‘Well done, you’ve won the golden ticket, you’re playing this evening’. He was not phased at all and that’s the type of characters that you need on tours like this.”

Daly’s injury, Keenan’s withdrawal and the fact Blair Kinghorn only arrived into Lions camp on Monday paints a picture of dwindling options in the number 15 jersey, but Farrell is comfortable with who he has available.

“We’ve loads of full-backs. Hugo will be OK tomorrow (Thursday) or the next day and Blair’s ready to go,” he said.

Jac Morgan was named man of the match after showing huge appetite to tackle, carry and battle on the floor, but it was captain Maro Itoje who made the biggest impact at Suncorp Stadium.

The England skipper was magnificent across the field and decorated his night’s work with a well-taken try.

With the Test series two and a half weeks away, it was a reassuring 80 minutes from Itoje, who was singled out for praise by Farrell. After Joe McCarthy starred against the Western Force on Saturday, he knew he had to deliver.

“The whole point of these tours is you’re with great players and you see great players performing well. That gives you extra motivation to perform well,” Itoje said.

“Despite my role as captain, I know that if I’m not playing well then it doesn’t matter if I’m captain or not, I won’t be in the team, so I need to make sure that my performance is where it needs to be.

“I want everyone to play well, all of my team-mates. Our job as players is one, to work together, and that’s really important, and two, to make all the coaches’ jobs as hard as possible when it comes to picking the team.”